Concussions linked to Lou Gehrig’s disease

Concussions or repeated blows to the head are associated with a brain disorder very much alike Lou Gehrig’s disease

Concussions or repeated blows to the head during sports activities are associated with a brain disorder very much alike Lou Gehrig’s disease or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a study released Tuesday says.

The study strengthens the belief that repeated head injuries may have serious long-term health damage. There has been debate whether these type of injuries actually cause diseases later in life.

New evidence by the study, published in the Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology, highlights the risk from repetitive head injuries.

Researchers at Boston University examined the brain of twelve dead athletes, including three with ALS.

They found out that all of them had suffered from multiple head trauma. One athlete had more than 10 concussions. Three athletes who were diagnosed with ALS showed protein deposits called tau and TDP-43 in their brains and spinal cords which were associated with this disease.

Other studies show that subjects without reported concussions did not show the protein deposits, Bob Cantu, one of the study authors and clinical professor of neurosurgery at Boston University Medical Center, says.

That signifies that the disorder is linked to the concussions at least for these subjects.

The protein tau is not usually found in ALS patients’ spinal cords, and that suggests a different condition may be present in these patients, but the disorders have similar features.

Further research is needed to confirm if head injuries causes the condition or just merely a coincidental finding.

John Trojanowski, director of the Institute of Aging at the University of Pennsylvania, who was not part of the research team, said that the Boston University study shows “good circumstantial evidence” of a possible link “between repetitive head trauma and ALS-like disease.”

Posted by George Daniels on Wednesday August 18 2010, 9:52 AM EST. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Health. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0